This recipe was originally published on December 14, 2014. It’s one of my favorites and was deserving of some new photography so I gave it a little facelift. Make these sweet potato veggie burgers today and freeze the leftover patties so you have them on hand for weeks to come. Original blog post below!

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In coming up with recipes lately, my focus has been on recreating things I find myself buying constantly. Every time I go to the grocery store, I pick up some frozen veggie burgers. And every time I tell myself I should just make my own. The first attempt resulted in patties of baby food mush. Yummy baby food, but … baby food. It’s funny how with cooking, sometimes the tiniest ingredient or technique tweak can make a world of difference—I made a couple tiny changes for round two and BOOM.

I’m so in love with these. I make a batch at the start of the week and pop ‘em in the freezer to have on hand. They can be served as a burger (duh), on top of a salad (my favorite way to eat them!) or mashed up with some scrambled eggs for breakfast. Talk about a food prepper’s dream!

I’m not vegan or gluten-intolerant, but it was so easy to make these without eggs or gluten that I went for it. (The buns pictured aren’t gluten-free—I’m just referring to the patty!)

Salt and pepper to taste (I probably used ½ tsp salt and a little less pepper)

Instructions

Cook the rice according to the package (bring water to a boil, add rice, simmer 35-40 mins); roughly ½ cup dry with make enough for the 1 cup of cooked rice you need.

While the rice is cooking, peel your potato/s (one huge potato or two medium sized will probably be enough) and chop into small pieces. Toss them lightly in extra virgin olive oil before spreading on a baking sheet and placing in the oven for 20 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, flipping halfway through. When they’re done, use a fork to coarsely mash them up (you want them to be chunky; not like a puree).

Grind the oats into a flour using your food processor. Next add the beans, rice and onion into the food processor and pulse a few times. You want them to retain some structure and “chunk”. Because I am severely challenged in the cutting-cilantro-and-garlic department, I also tossed those in the food processor with the previous ingredients.

In a large bowl, mix together the food processor contents, the sweet potato and all the remaining spices. I found it was most efficient to use my hands to do this.

If the potatoes were still hot when you mixed everything together, you may want to stick the mixture in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Otherwise, get right to the patty-making. Grabbing a small handful of the mixture, roll it into a ball in your hands and then gently press it into a patty shape.

To serve, heat a splash of olive oil on medium-high heat on the stove top and cook the veggie burger for 3-4 minutes, flipping midway.

To store, wrap in a piece of parchment paper (so they don’t stick to each other), place into a plastic Ziploc or Tupperware container, and freeze.

This post was sponsored by MegaFood. All opinions—as always!—are my own. I appreciate your support of the brands that make this blog possible. 🙂

The other day as we were making breakfast, Joe turned to me and asked, “Is it ratchet that I like peanut butter better than almond butter?” [insert cry-laughing emoji here]. It is true that in the wellness world over the past few years, almond and artisanal nut butters have been getting all the attention while peanut butter has been almost shunned as the less healthy step-sibling. Lest we forget how delicious peanut butter is in the era of homemade almond-hazelnut-cinnamon-matcha-elderberry butters, here’s a PB&J smoothie recipe. Because almond-hazelnut-cinnamon-matcha-elderberry butter and jelly (AHCMEB&J) just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

These PB&J smoothies for two are simple to make (just five ingredients), but I’d encourage you to get creative with the toppings if you’re looking for a more filling breakfast. I topped mine with fresh strawberries, granola and a peanut butter drizzle. So. Good.

I love MegaFood’s Daily Nutrient Booster Powders for adding to smoothies (you can check out other recipes I’ve posted using them here, here and here). I added their Daily C-Protect to today’s smoothie because immunity support never hurts during a change of seasons. This booster powder is made with organic oranges from Uncle Matt’s Farm. It contains FoodState® Vitamin C and farm-fresh blueberries and cranberries, providing phytonutrients such as bioflavonoids and anthocyanins which function as powerful antioxidants.* In addition, it contains organic Astragalus and Schisandra Berry. These herbs have been traditionally used for their immune-supportive properties.*

In one of my monthly Favorite Things posts, I mentioned the Flourless Banana Blender Muffins recipe from the Chocolate Covered Katie blog. I’m obsessed with them and I can’t recommend trying Katie’s recipe highly enough. These fudgy chai blender muffins with a vanilla glaze are my twist on her original delicious muffins.

The one (non) issue for me with the original recipe is that I seriously eat the entire batch in one day. Something about the added chai spice of today’s version makes it a lot easier to have just one or two and then be done. Don’t get me wrong—these chai blender muffins are DELICIOUS—but it’s like comparing chocolate chip cookie dough to gingerbread cookie dough. I’m satisfied with a finger lick of the latter. I could eat the entire bowl of the former.

The vanilla glaze drizzle is totally optional. These are delicious with or without it. The glaze is a nice touch when you plan to eat these as a healthier dessert, but if you want them for breakfast or a make-ahead snack, you could definitely skip it.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin (you can also oil if you don't have tin liners on hand)—you'll need 8-9.

Drain, thoroughly rinse, and pat dry the beans. Place all muffin ingredients in a blender or food processor and combine until smooth.

Fill the muffin tins about 3/4 the way with the muffin batter.

Bake for 16-20 minutes. Let sit for 20 minutes before enjoying. If you're going to add the vanilla glaze, mix the three ingredients together in a bowl (add small amounts of the almond milk at a time, you may not need the full tsp) and wait until muffins are fully cooled to drizzle it on or else it'll just drip off.

If you’re expecting the fluffy, bready texture of a traditional muffin, know that these are a bit different. The tops will have a satisfying hardness to them while the insides with be dense and fudgy. I can’t get enough of the texture!

If you give these a try, let me know what you think! And be sure to check out Chocolate Covered Katie for the original recipe.